Poverty and envy now Britain’s fate

James Cole is right to say May is the wrong leader for Brexit now that she has lost all authority both in Parliament and in Europe, but he is mistaken in saying “that if we leave it will be a dreadful deal, like Norway’s.”

The worst possible outcome of leaving the EU without a deal now looks a distinct possibility, which makes a deal like Norway’s the least- worst option. This raises the question of what did Leave voters think they were voting for? If it was to “take back control”, what control will we have when we find we still have to pay for access but without any control over decision-making? Have they noticed that we don’t manufacture very much anymore, apart from armaments to the Middle East, and that we are heavily dependent on financial services which are likely to relocate to mainland Europe. If their main motivation was to curb immigration, have they noticed that non-EU immigration, over which we do have control, exceeds that from Europe, and are they concerned about the increase in hate crime unleashed by the referendum that was intended to unite a divided Tory Party but has deeply divided our nation?

Whatever deal is negotiated will be a worse deal than the one we have now and we will become an impoverished little island, with even more of our wealth stashed off-shore for tax avoidance, looking on in envy as France and Germany lead a renewed Europe to greater prosperity and security.

Margaret Phelps

Penarth

Gwynedd Council efficient over tax

Following the article published in Monday’s Western Mail regarding council tax arrears, I have now had the opportunity to look into the matters your reporter raised with me over the phone late on Friday afternoon.

As was made clear in the article, Gwynedd Council actively and robustly pursues any unpaid council tax. There is no annual “cut-off point” and we carry out this work as a continuous and ongoing process using the full range of recovery options available to us. The article referred to Gwynedd Council’s assumed collection rate of 99%; as the Welsh Government’s document makes clear, this includes the collection of amounts after the year-end (compared, for example, with our “in-year” collection rate of 97.3% for 2016/17). I remain confident that Gwynedd’s assumed collection rate, which is one of the highest in Wales, is realistic.

Based on previous years, we are confident that at least 40% of the £3.794m that was outstanding on March 31, 2017, will be recovered during the current financial year, and that the vast majority of the remaining sums will be recovered in subsequent years. While we use a combination of the options available to us to collect arrears, we aim to do so sympathetically, in the knowledge that many individuals may be experiencing financial difficulties, and we encourage taxpayers to pay their arrears in a way which avoids the use of lawyers and enforcement agents wherever possible.

Western Mail readers can be assured that this recovery work will mean that only a very small percentage will have to be eventually “written off” as “bad debt”. This would only be in a very small number of cases where the legal costs for the council would be far greater than the outstanding debt we would be likely to recover.

Finally, I would also point out that the Welsh Government report referred to in Monday’s article clearly shows that the amount of council tax outstanding for every household that is liable to pay council tax (chargeable dwellings) is lower in Gwynedd than in some neighbouring north Wales authorities.

Peredur Jenkins

Cabinet Member for Finance, Gwynedd Council

The rise and fall of Ukip in a nutshell

Only two short years ago, Ukip seemed like an unstoppable force poised to upset the proverbial apple cart of Britain’s two-party state. It boasted an impressive 3.8m votes in 2015, earning itself two MPs and wall-to-wall media coverage.

The following year, Ukip broke new ground by tripling its vote share (to 12.5%) at the Welsh Assembly elections and picking up seven seats. In the aftermath of an extraordinary Brexit referendum dominated by disinformation and pandering to populist prejudices, the party’s appeal is on a remarkable downward trajectory with no plausible hope of recovery in sight.

Nigel Farage’s resignation as leader precipitated a leadership election in which Diane James was crowned as heir to the party throne, lasting only 18 days before resigning and then leaving the party altogether. Another leadership election was called, this time putting Farage’s right-hand man, Paul Nuttall, in charge. Within only months it was discovered that Nuttall had told a number of brazen lies, bringing his integrity under much scrutiny. When the snap election was called his party cobbled together a truly mortifying excuse for a manifesto which included banning Muslim face coverings on the foundation of a laughable notion that the entire basis of Daesh recruitment is radicalisation of people who are vulnerable to Vitamin D deficiency.

During the recent snap election, Ukip received fewer than 594,000 votes and lost their deposits in about 90% of contested seats. Nuttall decided to quit after this deeply disappointing result, and yet another Farage crony (Steve Crowther) is in charge as caretaker leader at the time of writing; it has since transpired that inveterate party MEP Roger Helmer is retiring amid an investigation into alleged fraudulent activity which may soon extend to colleagues including Nuttall.

Even the supposedly untouchable Farage is squirming on a hook as his surprising role in alleged collusion between Donald Trump and the Kremlin during the US presidential election campaign has now earned him the dubious distinction of becoming a “person of interest” to none other than the FBI. Before long, the only trace of Ukip’s transitory existence will be a well-worn dog whistle!

Daniel Pitt

Mountain Ash

Lake is a lovely and valuable resource

I walk around the lake four or five times every week after work or at the weekends, come rain, come shine. It is a great place to unwind, and as the seasons pass you get to see all aspects of the lake and its inhabitants.

Last week was somewhat special as I saw a local fisherman land two lovely carp at the same time. He handled the fish with great care and returned them to the lake promptly for them to continue to grow.

Making people aware of the great facility we have in Cardiff may help raise awareness of the maintenance that is needed to keep the lake in good condition.

Tony Rayer

Leckwith, Cardiff

A way forward for successful policing

The tragic events in London and Manchester in the first half of this year show how fanciful the idea of spending £300m putting 10,000 more bobbies on the beats is and how a “Northern Powerhouse” is an unnecessary and excessive layer of local government.

The creation of Police and Crime Commissioners provided an opportunity for each area in the country to have its own miniature Home Secretary. Had these been expanded to include powers over all emergency services, counter-terrorism and related powers, and applied to London as the rest of the country, then we would have had more than just the warm words Donald Trump found so offensive.

We are in a new age that would be unrecognisable to Sir Robert Peel. Community policing can be done by community wardens, who cost a fraction of police constables. They could be directly accountable to PCCs, who would act as the bridge between the community and the Home Secretary, who they could work with daily. Then the highly skilled police could be in the National Crime Agency rather than tied up in local forces.

Had Amber Rudd been able to work directly with Cressida Dick in London and Andy Burnham in Manchester, then many of the mistakes made could either have been avoided or the public would know who to blame – their PCC and the Home Secretary.